Kristina Magi: Travel Between Worlds and Time
by WarBabyMoon
Summary: Professor Snape was trying to persuade Kristina to speak more loudly and clearly when they suddenly are ripped from their world and thrown in another. In the middle of Kaer Morhen, Geralt and friends are sucked out of their world and spat out in Hogwarts, back before Voldemort killed Harry's parents. It is their jobs to figure out how to get back to their respective places in time.
1. Travel Between Worlds and Time

**Chapter One: Travel Between Time and Worlds**

"Geralt!"

The old witcher turned around as his close friend, Triss Merigold, rushed to his side. Her green eyes gleamed with worry, her freckled face concerned. Something was going wrong up there while Yennefer held up the shield around Kaer Morhen.

"Triss?" he looked shocked. "What's wrong?"

"There's a portal up top trying to suck in Yennefer, Lambert, and Ciri" Triss answered with a pant. "We need to go up and help. I think it's the Wild Hunt's doing."

"How the hell could they be doing that?" Geralt asked. "And how can they get the portal to suck in Lambert and Ciri? They are far from Yennefer."

"Dunno, but come on!" Triss urged. "This is nothing that can wait."

"I know, I'm just...shocked" Geralt shook his head. "Fine, let's go. Eskel, you can hold them off, can't you?"

"You're damn right I can," Eskel nodded. "Go worry about Ciri and your girlfriends, Wolf."

Geralt nodded and followed Triss to the top tower in Kaer Morhen, where Yennefer was struggling to keep the shield up and avoid being sucked in. Lambert was trying to pull himself away from the strong grip of the portal.

"Geralt! Merigold!" Lambert exclaimed. "About...damn...time...you two...showed...up. Stop...this...damn...portal...from...devouring...us!"

Before Geralt could respond, he too felt the tug of the portal. He grabbed the stone wall beside him and clenched it tightly.

"Geralt!" Ciri exclaimed, sliding backwards on her feet.

"This...is...why...I...hate...PORTALS!" Geralt struggled.

Triss held up her hands and in Elder speech, tried to cast a spell to stop the portal.

It didn't stop or close up. It just pulled harder on her friends and soon, they all couldn't hang in any longer and were yanked from the dimension into the portal and the portal sealed up, leaving Triss behind.

"Geralt!" she cried. "Yennefer! CIRI!"

She spun around and saw the destruction of Kaer Morhen continue. Imlerith and his troops were still at it.

"Oh god, no! Gotta find Eskel and Vesemir!"

—

Kristina was reading out a story, practicing her speech issues with her uncle Severus. Erin watched as an audience alongside their favorite professor, Meriwether Moses. Kristina was reading from one of the books she loves, pacing back and forth and looking at them occasionally.

"Louder, child! I cannot understand anything you are saying."

Kristina pushed herself to speak louder.

"Enunciate your words."

She tried.

"Stop mumbling! Again, I cannot understand you."

Kristina slapped the book down on her thigh, "I hate this. Uncle Severus, I want to stop. It's pointless! They're not going to believe me either which way, it's my elder cousin's word over mine."

"You need to be able to speak confidently," Snape stood up and put his hands on his hips. "Do you want to show people your weakness and, furthermore, your inability to be confident in your own words? They will assume your guilt, even though you are not guilty. Believe you me, I have seen many a non-Death Eater..." He cut himself off. After a tense pause, he continued, "Reread that last paragraph and that'll be it for the evening."

Kristina groaned.

"You can do it!" Erin cheered.

"Yeah, Kris!" Professor Moses grinned. "You've got this. Just think of how Minerva and Severus both speak. Minerva, when she speaks, is confident and demands respect. Severus is also confident and can be clearly heard down the hall!"

"Very heard," Erin agreed. "Very down-the-hall."

Snape sent the girl a grudgingly indulgent look. "Indeed."

"Ugh, fine." Kristina opened her mouth to start the last paragraph. "Geralt of Rivia, the Butcher of Blaviken, embraced Yennefer and Ciri in his arms and—"

A portal opened up in the middle of the courtyard. Everyone stopped to look and Kristina jumped backwards into her uncle. Snape pushed her behind him and she clutched his arm as she peeked around him to see. Moses grabbed Erin and hid her behind him as well.

"What on earth is going on here?" Snape asked.

"I don't know!" Professor Moses exclaimed.

"Aim your wands," Snape ordered quickly. "Seal the portal shut! Kristina, Erin, you two get out of here."

"Uncle Severus!" Kristina cried out. "I'm not leaving you!"

"Neither am I," Erin agreed. "Well, I'm mostly just not going to leave Kristina..."

"You are as stubborn as your father. Fine," Snape grumbled and raised his wand. "Stay behind me!"

Snape felt Kris's head nod against his back and before he could cast a spell with his colleague to seal the portal shut, he felt a violent tug on his arm. He stumbled forward and suddenly felt Kristina stumble forward with him.

"Stay there!" Snape hissed.

"I'm trying!" Kristina exclaimed.

Meriwether felt a tug on his arm, "Uhm what is going on? OW! Ow! Ow! What the heck? I can't hold back. OW."

"Meriwether! You. Are. Not. Helping."

Erin felt the tug too and she and Kristina exchanged glances but couldn't move.

"If our own teachers can't stop it..." Kristina started.

"What the heck is it?" Erin asked. "Should someone get Dumbledore?"

Snape jerked forward, being pulled right to the edge.

"Bloody hell, this cannot be happening," his hand felt a strange, tight air. "Not going in..."

"Uncle Severus?" Kristina asked.

"Not now, child!"

Meriwether lost his concentration and the portal pulled him and Erin straight into Kristina's back, which transferred to Snape, and that's when the four of them fell into the portal. If there were any sounds, no one could hear them. Everything was muffled, as if they'd gone through water. There was a tightness in the air. Kristina clutched Snape's arm.

Soon, the feeling of tightness and the muffled sounds ceased. Everyone was falling from at least a yard into the air. Snape landed face-first into the ground. Immediately, he felt the pain. He groaned, for sure, but nothing compared to when he felt Kristina drop on his back mere seconds later. And that was nothing compared to when Erin and Meriwether landed on top of them. Sure, he could take one lightweight 100 pound girl, but two of them plus the 170 pound man?

"Ow!" Snape screamed in pain and began muttering curses under his breath.

"Owwie," he heard Kristina's voice being muffled by his back. Then, a groan. "I don't feel so good..."

Suddenly, one weight shifted off of Snape, then another. Meriwether and Erin. The last one, Kristina, did not move.

"Magi...can you get off of my back?"

"I feel really sick..."

"Your medallion is stabbing me," Snape grunted.

Erin helped move Kristina off of her professor and finally, Professor Snape was able to sit up and dust off his chest. He looked around, examining their surroundings. It was dark and freezing cold. Snow was falling at blizzard-like speeds.

"Gosh, it is colder than the dungeons!" Erin remarked.

"It's warm in the dungeons," Snape muttered.

"Uncle Severus, I feel really sick...and cold..." came Kristina's voice.

"Fine," Snape grumbled and quickly took off his robes. "Wear this until Meriwether and I can figure out what is going on." He draped them over her shoulders and stood up. Kristina pulled the robes close and tried to warm up and Snape clutched his arms to keep his body heat from escaping while he fumbled for his wand.

"Well, now you'll be cold," Erin observed.

"That will be a simple matter of a warming charm, once I am able to locate my wand."

"Oh, then you could've kept your cloak and used the spell on Kris—"

At this point irritated, Snape snapped, "A spell will wear off, whereas a cloak will not."

Pacified, Erin stayed crouched beside Kristina and watched as Meriwether stepped around them to join his colleague.

"Severus...where are we?" Meriwether asked.

Snape placed a hand on the stone railing, "Well, I can say for certain...we're not in Hogwarts anymore."

"Holy macaroni!" Meriwether remarked as he took a gander. "What?"

"Holy macaroni?" Erin asked. "Well, that is not a good sign..."

There was a loud explosion and Snape and Meriwether quickly ducked behind the wall. When they lifted their heads, they were both shocked to see a fireball engulf the trees below them.

"We gotta get the girls out of here!" Meriwether exclaimed.

"I have got Magi, you will get Smith," Snape rushed over to Kristina and scooped her up with one arm and carried her down the stairs. Meriwether grabbed Erin's hand and dragged her behind him and followed Snape.

"OW! UNCLE SEV! YOU'RE HURTING ME!" Kris cried out.

"Better me than those fireballs, you fool!"

Kristina frowned but couldn't say much as he and Meriwether rushed them to the closest spot to hide. When Snape had stopped moving, Kristina lifted her head tiredly and saw that they were in some kind of tower. She squirmed to be released from her professor and the Slytherin dropped the Ravenclaw hard on the floor.

"Wow...I love you too, Uncle Severus," Kristina grumbled and then stood up slowly.

Snape dusted his hands and then crossed his arms, "You were squirming too much, what was I, your favorite teacher, to do?"

Kristina sighed heavily and Meriwether glanced uneasily at Kristina, "Maybe you should sit down, you look pale. I think that portal upset your body the most."

"I...I think so too," Kristina admitted.

Snape patted himself down, trying to find his wand and the potion he was going to give Kris after they worked on her speech.

"Where the hell is my wand? And the potion I was going to give Magi? Meriwether!" Snape glared at his colleague, but when he saw Meriwether do the same he realized it wasn't just him.

"Where's my wand?" Meriwether asked.

Kristina, sitting down, searched her pockets and Erin did the same.

"Our wands are missing?" Erin asked. "Uhm...well, this is a precarious situation...certainly precarious..."

"You think?!" Snape asked.

Kristina shivered under Snape's robe and she looked around. A medieval castle of some sort. Then, she sensed another presence.

"Guys, someone's here!" she hissed and ducked. Snape glanced around until he found someone walking towards them. It was a man—no, an elf—about the same height as Snape, if not taller. He was thin, with visible cheekbones and aquamarine eyes. He had a slender figure, covered with loose-fitting robes and a cloak.

The elf crossed his arms behind his back and cocked his head to the side, "Hello there. Who are you all? And how did you get into Kaer Morhen?"

"Care...What?" Snape asked.

"Kaer Morhen. Hm. You do not look of this world, nor the realm of the Aen Seidhe," the man realized. "None of the worlds I have been to, in fact."

"What?" everybody asked in unison.

"How did you get in here?" the man asked.

"We don't know," Snape answered sharply.

The elf glanced behind the professors and caught a glimpse of the pale Kristina. Her eyes glowed red but she didn't seem mad or anything, just sick.

"The girl," the elf started. "Is she not human?"

"What?" Snape and Moses turned to look at Kristina.

"Shit," Snape muttered.

"I'm..." Kristina shivered and gagged. "I don't feel good... Uncle Severus..."

The elf approached them and Snape stood in between his colleague and students.

"I'm not going to hurt her," the elf assured.

"I want your name, first," Snape glared.

"Crevan Espane aep Caomhan Macha," the elf introduced himself, and after getting confused glances from the group of wizards, he cleared his throat. "You can, of course, just call me Avallac'h. I'd like to know who you are, as well."

"I'm Meriwether," Moses started. "He's Severus, and the girls are Erin and Kristina, respectively."

"Such strange names," Avallac'h muttered.

"Because Avallac'h isn't a strange enough name?" Snape grumbled. "Or whatever your real name was..."

"Obviously we come from different worlds, Severus," Avallac'h raised an eyebrow at Snape's remark. He had to admit, their names were strange as well. "Of course the names may seem strange to the other. Well, now that the ice has been cleared, how about we let...Kristina, was it? rest up?"

Snape crossed his arms, not trusting the elf. However, Meriwether studied the elf and then slowly nodded in agreement.

"Perhaps we could all use a rest," he said. "I'm not feeling that great myself. Think that portal made me sick."

"Yeah," Erin nodded and looked over to Snape, noticing he looked a little sick as well but how sick he was remained a mystery because of his deadpan. Then, she looked at Kristina again, who looked like she was trying to keep from puking. "But looks like it made Kris the sickest."

"Perhaps you could tell me more about this portal?" Avallac'h asked.

Snape scowled, but relented, "Guess we don't have any choice, now do we?"

"If you want help," Avallac'h nodded and then turned around. "Perhaps you could follow me? I can take you to a fire to warm up."

"Fine," Snape grunted. "However, if you dare make any sudden movement, I will..."

"I do not think there will be any concern with that," Avallac'h assured, then gestured at the wizards to follow him. Reluctantly, they did.

As they walked, Erin kept an eye on Kristina, making sure she wasn't about to puke.

"Are there any potions here that could help my..." Snape swallowed hard, "...niece, per chance?"

"As we are in a witcher's school, there may be something for her. However, I would not think it would help her. Rather, it could..." Avallac'h trailed off.

"Could what?" Snape demanded.

Avallac'h changed the subject just as another explosion happened outside, "What do you all do? Are you sorcerers?"

"Wizards," Snape corrected. "And, I heard you say this earlier, but what the hell is a witcher?"

"Monster slayer," Avallac'h explained.

"Avallac'h, the Child of the Elder Blood is...whoah, who the hell are these people?" Came a male voice as Avallac'h gestured for Kristina to lie down. When they all looked, they saw another elf. His face was scarred, and his right eye was covered with a red bandana. Immediately, Erin felt a romantic attraction to the elf.

"Iorveth!" Avallac'h exclaimed. "What do you mean Cirilla is missing?"

"I don't know but obviously it wasn't the Wild Hunt's doing because they're still here," Iorveth growled.

"Iorveth is actually kinda cute," Erin whispered to Kristina.

"He is, but...I kinda like Avallac'h," Kristina admitted weakly.

Snape backhanded Kristina in the head, "Knock it off. Both you girls..."

"Avallac'h, who are these humans?" Iorveth demanded.

"Well..." Avallac'h started. "All I know is that they're not of this world and they're...wizards."

"This is going to be interesting," Meriwether crossed his arms.

"Do you suppose we might not have been the only ones to have gone through that portal, Meriwether?" Snape whispered.

"If they're missing one of their own, I would suppose so," Meriwether agreed.

"What the hell is going on?" Snape remarked as he looked back at the elves.

—

Geralt landed on his back, then felt Ciri land on top of him. He groaned and Ciri quickly hopped off of him and dragged him aside before Lambert and Yennefer could land on him. They landed on top of each other. Disgusted, Yennefer punched Lambert in the face, "Get off of me, you asshole!"

"God dammit," Lambert groaned and slid off of Yennefer's body.

"Uhm, where are my swords?" They heard Geralt ask.

Lambert reached behind himself, "And mine?!"

"Calm down, perhaps they fell elsewhere?" Ciri asked.

"I doubt it," Yennefer shook her head.

"This is your fault, isn't it?" Lambert snapped at Yennefer, then turned towards Geralt. "See? Sorceresses screw everything up, Geralt! This is why you don't hang out with them. Stupid whoreson!"

"Lambert, this was not Yennefer's fault," Geralt defended. "You really think she would make it so we didn't have our swords here? You are such an idiot."

"Lambert, you're just upset that this even happened," Yennefer flipped her hair back. "Just give it a bit and you'll relax some."

"Relax? How can I relax if I don't have my swords?" Lambert asked.

"Well, obviously you've still got one..." Geralt grumbled.

"What do you—ohhhhhhhhhh," Lambert smirked. "I see what you did there."

"Ew," both Yennefer and Ciri screwed up their faces in disgust. "You guys are gross..."

"What in the world is going on out here? Oh!" they heard a woman gasp.

The first to notice was the ashen-haired girl. Surprised, Ciri turned around and saw an unfamiliar woman wearing a pointy hat and elegant robes. She seemed pretty old, but not Vesemir old. Like...Geralt old.

"Oh uhm, hello," Ciri greeted awkwardly. "Mind telling us where we are?"

Yennefer looked, followed by Geralt and Lambert. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"You lot do not look of this world," she remarked. "Yet, you are not ordinary Muggles; that much is obvious. Very well, you are in the great wizarding school of Hogwarts. I am Minerva McGonagall."

"What?" Geralt asked.

"Wizarding?" Yennefer repeated.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Lambert asked in his usual prickly manner. "What are you, sorcerers? God dammit, I don't need to be surrounded by more Merigolds and Yennefers! Can barely stand Merigold."

"Hold your tongue, whoreson," Geralt growled.

"I haven't the foggiest as to whom you're referring to, but we are witches and wizards," McGonagall emphasized. "Now, I'm afraid I must ask who _you_ are."

"I'm Yennefer of Vengerberg," Yennefer introduced. "There's Geralt of Rivia, Lambert, and Cirilla of Cintra is the ashen-haired girl."

"Lovely to meet you all, but...I'm afraid you are trespassing," the witch said.

"Honestly, we don't even know how we got here," Yennefer admitted. "We deeply apologize if we're trespassing, but this is where the portal spat us out at. That's all we know."

"A portal, you say?" McGonagall repeated.

"Yes," Ciri nodded. "We were in the midst of a terrible battle when a portal opened up and sucked us in. Geralt, Lambert, and I are without our swords, almost as if the portal or portal user didn't want us to have our swords."

"Well that is certainly intriguing," McGonagall nodded. "I can take you to our headmaster, perhaps he knows of something that could do this and how to reverse it."

"Really?" Lambert asked. "I sure hope there's a way to reverse this! Otherwise, the bloody Wild Hunt is going to plough the hell out of Kaer Morhen."

"If I'm not there," Ciri started. "I think they'll realize that and leave and Kaer Morhen will be safe. At least until I'm returned."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Geralt waved his hand in dismissal. "The Wild Hunt won't stop unless we stop them."

"We'll find out eventually," Yennefer assured. "I think they might stop when they realize Ciri is missing."

"Perhaps..." Geralt frowned.

"If you are done, I'd like to take you to our headmaster?"

"Of course," Yennefer agreed.

"Very well, please follow me," McGonagall nodded and gestured for them to follow her.

As they walked through the school, all was calm and quiet. Though, as they walked they ran into another teacher with a young girl walking beside him. The man had greasy, jet-black hair, a hooked nose, and he wore long, black robes. The girl didn't look anything like him, as she was small, pale, had a cute button-like nose, long brown hair and baby blue eyes. She seemed nice and bright, while the man was cold and dark. However, he seemed to treat the little girl nicely.

"Uncle Severus!" she skipped. "Can you show me more potions? I really love making them."

"I know you do, child," the man spoke. "However, don't you have some homework from your favorite professor to be doing right now?"

"I can wing it before bed," the girl grinned, stopping in front of her uncle. "Potions isn't that hard. I dunno why anyone would find it hard."

An amused smile crossed Severus's face as he put his hands on her shoulders, "I'm glad you think so, Kristina." Suddenly, he glanced up at the strangers following Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, who are these strangers? How did they get into Hogwarts?"

Kristina took her uncle Severus by his hand and stared at the strangers. Ciri smiled at her and crouched down in front of her.

"Hello there, little one," she smiled. "I'm Ciri."

"I'm Kristina," she murmured, nervously pressing herself into her uncle.

"These guys supposedly came from another world, as they say they were spat out from a portal here," McGonagall explained.

Geralt and Lambert crossed their arms and Yennefer placed her hands on her hips.

"We don't mean to intrusive," Yennefer explained.

"Goddammit, my medallion is humming," Geralt muttered suddenly.

"Mine too," Lambert realized.

"Oh would you two shut up?" Yennefer asked, then looked at Minerva and Severus.

Ciri was still trying to ease Kristina's discomfort.

"Would you like a piece of candy?" she asked.

"What kind?" the young witch asked.

"The sweet kind," Ciri winked.

Kris looked up at her teacher and he scowled but sighed.

"If it's not poisoned, I suppose so..." Snape shrugged.

Ciri reached into her pocket and pulled out a candy from Novigrad, "Here."

Kristina took it and opened it slowly, looking at it.

"I've never seen this kind of candy in neither muggle stores or wizard stores," she commented.

"It is from our world," Ciri smiled.

Kris put it in her mouth and started sucking, "Oh, that's good!"

"I'm glad," Ciri smiled. "Hey, looks like your outfit matches your uncle's. That's really cute."

Kris smiled, "My dad says I'm like Uncle Severus even though we're not related and in different houses."

"Different houses?" Ciri asked.

"Slytherin," Snape said. "She's a Ravenclaw. And the only reason your father says that is because you love potions and attempt to act like me."

"I do love potions," Kris grinned.

"Very good, then I shall escort you back to your house so you can do your homework!" Professor Snape pointed out sharply.

"Aww, but I don't wanna go back," Kris whined. "They don't like me."

"You are of house Ravenclaw, are you not? I'm sure you can find a way to fix that. Besides, not being liked isn't the end of the world. Go make friends."

"Okay..." Kristina looked back at Ciri as Severus started leading her back to the Ravenclaw Tower.

Ciri glanced at McGonagall, who simply responded with, "It's her first year here."

"She seems like a good kid," Ciri commented.

"She is, just rather uneasy around people. She clings to Severus most of the time because she's scared of the other kids," McGonagall explained.

"I don't see how he's any nicer," Geralt pointed out. "Even though he was being nice to her, he had a cold air to his personality."

"He is nicer than the other students," McGonagall said. "He's her uncle, well more like her adopted uncle. He and her father are friends, and therefore she got to see Severus quite often as a child. She's grown quite fond of him."

"Oh," Geralt blinked. "I see."

—

"So you're telling us that you guys come from another world with magic but you don't have witchers or elves or dwarves?" Iorveth asked, dubious.

"There is a specific group that goes after monsters but they do not usually slay them like a 'witcher' would," Snape explained. "And we do have elves, however...they don't really look like you lot."

"And so if you guys don't have other races like we do, then what is she?" Iorveth asked, pointing at Kristina who was still wearing Snape's cloak and curled up by the fire. "I saw those eyes. Crimson red. Never seen a human with red eyes before. Don't think I've seen elves or dwarves with red eyes. Witchers have yellow eyes, though. But that's different. That's a result of a mutation."

"Well, in a way she is still human, just..." Snape sighed. "She's...well, a demon. She was perhaps cursed as an infant and no one knew and now she's a demon. Not that she really acts like it. She's still the same old Kristina I've always known, except less clumsy and certainly faster on her feet. Though, I do admit she does have to struggle with being a demon because if she smells blood, she'll want to kill someone and devour their soul. That is, unless I give her a specific potion, which I don't have on me." Snape thought for a moment, "She doesn't want to hurt people though because well, that is how she is..."

"As long as she don't try to kill us, guess that's fine," Iorveth shrugged.

They all heard another explosion.

"When are the Wild Hunt going to leave?" he asked. "Jeez... Ciri ain't here anymore."

"I don't know, I think they're retreating," came Avallac'h's voice as he returned with a blanket for Kristina. "I believe Triss was simply trying to make sure they were gone."

"You sure you should be up and about right now, Avallac'h? After all, you just recovered from the first part of the Trial of Grasses..." Iorveth trailed off.

"I am fine, Iorveth," Avallac'h grunted as he gave Kristina the blanket. Kristina had puked before they got to the fire, and so she certainly needed to rest. She returned Snape's cloak and wrapped herself in the blanket, curling up against her professor. He looked, shook his head, and chose to ignore her. Meriwether spoke up.

"So what are we going to do now?" he asked.

"Wait for Vesemir and the rest to return," Avallac'h said. "We shall take it from there."

"Kris, are you really going to fall asleep on Professor Snape?" Erin asked with a teasing smile.

"Shut up," Kristina muttered.

Soon, they heard the front doors slam open.

"Avallac'h! Iorveth! Where the hell is Geralt and Lambert?!" came a voice. Everyone looked. It was a man with a scar over his right eye going down his face towards his mouth. He had short, dark brown hair and yellow eyes. From what the elves had told the wizards, they all assumed that he was a witcher.

Another voice, "Eskel! Yennefer, Geralt, Ciri, and Lambert all were sucked into a portal!"

The man, Eskel, turned around with shock, "And no one stopped it?"

"No one could," they saw who the voice came from. A young woman with ginger hair tied in two low buns had said it. "But the Wild Hunt is retreating. I think we scared them off with that last bomb, but I think it's mostly because they realized Ciri wasn't here."

"Where's Vesemir and the rest?" Eskel asked.

"Think they're on their way back to the keep," the woman answered. "Oh my goodness..."

"It's ok, Triss, we'll find out what happened to them..." Eskel assured.

"So it's certainly a precarious situation we've got here," Avallac'h said suddenly.

"What do you mean, Avallac'h?" Triss asked.

Eskel looked and realized that the wizards were there. Meriwether and Snape both exchanged uneasy glances and waited in silence. Snape just quietly put his hand over Kristina's shoulders and looked at the two elves expectantly.

"Well, if you can't see here, we've got visitors who are missing from their universe as our comrades are from ours," Avallac'h pointed out.

Iorveth gestured towards the group of wizards and Triss and Eskel glanced at them. Triss gasped and Eskel's eyes simply widened.

"Who the hell are they?" he asked.

"Is the girl sick?" Triss asked, worried.

"Why are you worried about the girl?" Eskel asked.

"Because she's a girl, Eskel. She's gotta be about the same age as Ciri," Triss pointed out, rushing over. "She's sick?"

Snape glared and before he could answer, Meriweather responded, "Yes, she's sick. We went through a portal and it made us all a little queasy, but it got to her the most."

"A portal, you say?" Triss asked.

Meriwether nodded, and so did Snape.

"Yes," Snape answered.

"That's what took Geralt, Yennefer, Lambert, and Ciri!" Triss exclaimed. "Here, I might be able to—"

"Leave her alone!" Snape snapped.

"Severus, let her..." Meriwether tried to calm down his colleague. "We don't know how long Kris could be sick like this, and we need her to not be sick."

"Meriwether, I do not know how you can be so trusting," Snape growled.

"Severus, we have to," Meriwether argued. "I don't see anything wrong with these people. More than anything, they want to help. Let them help."

Snape scowled but relented. Triss muttered something in a language Snape did not understand and touched Kristina's forehead. She jerked her hand back suddenly.

"Whoa," she remarked. "She's got a powerful aura. Never met someone with such a powerful aura before. What is she?"

"Did you make her feel any better?" Erin asked to change the subject.

"I don't know if my magic got through to her but I certainly hope so," Triss glanced at Erin and was shocked by how dark her skin was compared to pretty much everyone she knew. "Wow, I've never seen someone with such dark skin..."

Erin seemed taken aback by the comment. "Well, _that_ was just said by a person in real life," she commented. "Probably don't say that to absolutely anyone else; it'll seem racist."

"No, no I didn't mean for it to come off as rude," Triss assured. "Just, we live in the Northern Realms here, dark-skinned folk are a rarity."

"There aren't any in Toussaint either," Eskel shrugged.

"Well, that's Toussaint..." Triss muttered.

"So Kris has the most powerful aura you've ever seen and I have the most powerful melanin you've ever seen?" Erin noted. "Awesome. Definitely equal achievements. My mother will be thrilled." Her snarkiness earned her a weak glare from Kristina.

"But in all seriousness, what _is_ she? She can't be human, not with that aura."

"Well, in a way she isn't human," Meriwether answered. "I mean, physically she's like any other human. But...she's...well, a demon."

"A demon?" Eskel asked.

"She's not going to hurt you!" Snape could see the worried expressions on everyone's faces. "She would not ever purposefully hurt another person. She's not like that. It is just the result of someone cursing her as an infant. It only got noticed after her friend accidentally changed her appearance."

"What are you guys?" Eskel asked.

"We're wizards," Erin told him. "Well, _we're_ witches, but _they're_ wizards; we use gender-differentiated terms, but it's basically the same thing."

"So, mages?" Eskel asked.

"Sorta," Meriwether answered.

"Not like Triss and Avallac'h?" Eskel asked.

"No," Snape answered plainly.

"Wait, where's Vesemir, Roche, Ves, Kiera, Hjalmar, and Zoltan?" Triss wondered. "I'm gonna go find them..."

"I bet they're looking for Wolf and Ciri," Eskel thought out loud.

"I'll go find them," Triss said. "You lot, get the girl to lie down until the sickness passes. If my magic took to her, she should be fine within an hour."

"Right," Meriwether agreed.

"Fine," Professor Snape stood up and made Kristina lie down. "You do not need to use me as a pillow, child."

Kristina groaned, "But Uncle Snape..."

"Just lie down, would ya?" Snape watched her lie down. "Just...stay there...You'll feel better soon, or at least I hope you will."

"For now, I think we should get acquainted with each other, huh?" Eskel asked. "I'm Eskel."

"Severus," Snape started.

"Meriwether," Meriwether added.

"Erin," Erin nodded at Kristina. "And that's Kristina."

"So we've got Eskel, Triss, Avallac'h, and Iorveth," Snape started.

"Then the rest of whoever Triss just left to find?" Meriwether wondered.

"Seems to be the case," Snape grunted, sitting back down by Kristina's feet. He glanced to the side at the fire, cupping his hands together and breathing into them. He glanced back at Iorveth, Avallac'h, and Eskel.

"And you guys are mages," Eskel said plainly after they stopped talking to each other.

"Yeah," Meriwether nodded.

"Don't suppose you're trained in combat?" Eskel asked.

"Only with magic and our wands," Snape muttered. "Of course, we lost our wands so we cannot perform in combat."

"Perhaps old man Vesemir would be willing to give you guys a crash course in witcher training."

"How come?" Meriwether asked.

"Well..." Eskel glanced up. "In this world, you need to be able to protect yourself. From both humans and monsters."

"And the Wild Hunt," Iorveth added.

"What is this Wild Hunt?" Professor Snape wondered. "You lot keep mentioning them."

"They are a group of specters who are led by a king and are usually an omen of war, misfortune, and death," Avallac'h started. "They are after our Child of the Elder Blood."

"What is an Elder Blood?" Professor Snape wondered.

"Elder race offspring," Iorveth continued. "Some say that it is a curse of elven offspring but others say it gives the bearer of the blood the ability to travel through space and time."

"And to cause destruction of the planet, if she isn't taught to control her powers," Avallac'h mentioned.

"So that's why they are here?" Erin asked.

The elves and the witcher nodded in response.

"Yep. That's why they are here," Eskel answered.

"So do we really need to learn how to defend ourselves from them?" Professor Snape asked.

"Unless there are any objections, it would be a good idea," Iorveth nodded.

"Nope, no objections here!" Erin said quickly. "I would love to learn how to wield a sword with you. I've tried archery before, because I thought I could be like Legolas, but it turns out I lack any sort of competence, so maybe swordplay..." She caught herself babbling and broke off with a dorky smile.

Eskel looked at Professor Snape, who shook his head.

"I'd be more interested in perhaps learning about the potions here," he muttered. "I prefer not to use swords."

"I'm sure old man Vesemir would be willing to teach you about potions," Eskel told him. "He himself prefers potions."

"I see," Snape nodded.

"I would like to learn how to do potions too," Meriwether admitted. "I'd be more afraid of cutting off my own foot than having a potion blow up in my face. Though, either which way I'll cry like a baby!"

"You would," Professor Snape agreed with a grudgingly indulgent look. He could just see his colleague now, in tears as they amputate his foot. That would be a sight to behold.

"And Kristina?" Avallac'h asked, looking at the girl who was still looking at him quietly.

"S-Swords would be great," she blinked when she realized he was looking at her. Her face turned an embarrassed shade of pink as she sat up.

"You going to be okay now?" Professor Snape asked, glaring.

"I think so," Kristina nodded, rubbing her eyes.

Before anyone could make a comment, they heard voices entering the castle. They could hear each of the individual voices but only one voice was familiar.

"I'm surprised Imlerith told his troops to retreat," came one voice.

"Aye, perhaps it was because Miss Merigold scared 'em off! Heh heh," came a Scottish-sounding voice.

"But I found Ciri, Geralt, and Lambert's swords," came another voice.

"And where is Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri, and Lambert?" came one more voice.

"Triss, what is going on?" the first voice asked.

They heard Triss answer as they approached the elves and wizards.

"Ciri, Lambert, Yennefer, and Geralt are missing," Triss finally answered. "And we've got visitors from another world. Don't be alarmed, Vesemir. They mean no harm."

"What do you mean, visit—" The man cut off as soon as he saw the wizards. They all looked over towards the group of strange men and, women of course, and all gaped at them.

"Whoa..."

Snape sighed. Here goes more introductions and explanations.


	2. Don't Underestimate Wizards nor Witchers

**Chapter 2:** _Don't Underestimate Neither Wizards nor Witchers_

It stormed outside as everything settled down inside Kaer Morhen. Thunder clashed, wind howled, and fire crackled in the fireplace. It was the middle of the night, and despite being night-owls themselves, they could not seem to keep themselves awake with all the talking. Not that Professor Snape could himself. With Kristina's head in his lap and resting his head on his fist, Professor Snape found himself dozing off from fatigue and boredom. Kristina was curled up under a wool blanket and the blanket only warmed up the leg it covered. Erin was asleep curled up as a little ball, resting against Kris's back.

"We should lead our guests to the evening room, perhaps?" Vesemir suddenly asked.

Meriwether yawned, "I would appreciate it. I think Severus would as well, considering now he's falling asleep and he has Kristina's head in his lap." He turned to his colleague and shook him, "Hey, Severus! Wake up."

Snape groaned.

"Come on, we're gonna get a room!" Meriwether sprung to his feet and smiled.

"Ugh..." Snape rubbed the sleep from his eyes and groaned when he realized his niece was sleeping comfortably. Groggily, he lifted his hand like he was using his wand and muttered under his breath, "Levicorpus." He coughed and rubbed his forehead, "Wait, that's right...I don't have my damn wand." He stifled a yawn but then Erin and Meriwether's voices startled him.

"Oh my goodness, I thought we needed our wands to use magic!" Erin exclaimed.

"What? Of course we do..." Professor Snape trailed off as he realized he didn't feel a pressure in his lap. He finally opened his eyes and blinked in disbelief when he saw Kristina was levitating. "How did I do that? I don't even have my wand..."

"Whoa," Meriwether commented as Snape stood up. He glanced at the elder Witcher, Vesemir, questioningly and he gave a chuckle.

"You did that yourself, Severus," Vesemir said.

"Indeed you did," Avallac'h agreed.

"Even sorcerers can't do that kind of thing," Triss remarked.

"Jeez, I'm impressed," Kiera Metz, a blonde sorceress, grumbled.

Snape stood up and placed his hands on his hips, "Well that makes things much easier."

"Oh my Gahd, I wanna play with my magic now SO much," Meriwether exclaimed.

"That sounded...wrong," Snape shook his head. "You have problems..."

"Well, how about we go now?" Vesemir suggested. "Before Erin falls asleep."

The wizards looked at the young witch, struggling to stay awake.

"Come on, Smith," Snape grumbled. "You do not get levicorpus like Kristina does."

Erin pouted a bit.

"Sorry, except not really," Snape waved his hand and made Kristina follow him.

Vesemir showed them to the evening room where Eskel had set up cots of some kind. Did not look even remotely comfortable, but better than nothing. Snape guided Kristina to a bed and set her down.

"Good night, child," he whispered, sitting down in the cot beside her.

Suddenly, they heard music in the distance. Vesemir looked out down the stairs.

"Ah, that Scoia'tael is playing his flute, is he?" he wondered.

"Scoia'tael?" Erin repeated.

"That's what Iorveth is: a squirrel," Eskel crossed his arms. "A group of non-human guerrillas who fight discrimination of non-humans."

"Oh..." Erin blushed.

"Well, let these fine men and girls rest up," Vesemir said. "If they are to learn to defend themselves here like witchers, they will need the rest."

"Of course," Eskel agreed. "We shall leave you alone. If you need anything, please call for us."

"Of course," Meriwether nodded. "Thank you."

Eskel and Vesemir quickly left and Meriwether stretched his arms.

"I am ready to sleep! Tonight has been a long night, sheesh!"

Snape nodded slowly.

"You know, I wonder if anyone will notice our sudden absence and start hunting for us," Snape wondered.

"Pretty sure someone will realize we're missing," Erin said. "Kinda hard not to notice when two teachers and two students are missing..."

"Perhaps so," Snape closed his eyes sleepily.

Erin yawned, "Well, night!"

"Night..." Snape flipped over on his side to face Kristina, but instead of watching her, he simply passed out.

—

Geralt grabbed his medallion.

"God dammit I am not near a place of power. Stop it, piece of shit!"

"Too much magic," Lambert grumbled, grabbing his medallion as well.

After getting a glare from Yennefer, they shut up again. She turned back to Dumbledore.

"So you mean, you want our help in your 'ministry of magic'?" she asked.

Dumbledore nodded, "I believe you will be able to help with the current situation in the wizarding world, if you're willing."

"What is this current situation?" Ciri asked.

"There is an evil wizard trying to take over," the man started. "If you agree to help, you will most likely be helping to push him down and prevent him from hurting any more wizards."

"So we supress the evil?" Geralt asked. "I'd ask for crowns as a contract, but obviously there aren't any Novigrad crowns like we have at home."

"We're not doing this for free," Lambert growled.

"Yes we are, Lambert," Geralt glared. "We have no other choice, now do we? Honestly, it's a nice break from drowners and necrophages."

"Ugh," Lambert groaned.

"How hard can it be to help suppress this evil individual?" Geralt asked. "I've dealt with more difficult situations in Novigrad and Oxenfurt."

"I'm not so sure this'll be a walk in the park," Yennefer sighed at the men.

"Me neither," Ciri agreed.

"Voldemort will not be so easy," Dumbledore mentioned.

"Really?" Geralt asked.

"I'm sure we'll find out very soon," Lambert smirked.

"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed. "Meanwhile, may I offer a place to stay until the Ministry of Magic can come get you to help them?"

"If you would be so kind," Ciri smiled.

"We would appreciate it," Yennefer admitted.

"Well, how about you follow me? I believe we could set up sleeping bags in the dining room, perhaps? I believe so!"

"Thank you," Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer thanked.

Lambert scowled but also offered a 'thank you' but in the form of a grumble.

As Dumbledore led them towards the dining area, Ciri thought about the young girl she saw earlier. Kristina. There was something different about her compared to the humans in this place. Sure, she acted like an 11-year-old girl, almost 12, but she had a strange vibe to her. Like she was not normal.

"Yennefer, did you notice anything strange about the girl?" Ciri asked.

"Who?"

"Kristina, the little girl we saw before we got here."

"Well, other than the fact that she dressed like a boy? No, I didn't notice anything strange," Yennefer admitted. "More or less, she seemed like any other kid her age. Timid, boyish, yes. Different? Not entirely. Although, I admit...her trying to act like her uncle was kinda adorable. I feel like you should've done that with Geralt or Vesemir."

"I should've," Ciri smiled.

"Not that we need another old man Vesemir!" Lambert said sharply. "I can deal with another Geralt, mostly. But Vesemir? Nooooooo!"

"Well, here you go!" Dumbledore said suddenly as he waved his wand to set up sleeping bags in the hall. It was a large room for dining, much to the surprise of the witchers and sorceress, but it made sense since it was a large school.

"I dunno, but this place is almost like Kaer Morhen," Ciri looked around.

"Well, they're both castles, as we saw, but otherwise I doubt they're really that similar," Geralt pointed out.

"Get as comfortable as you would like," Dumbledore smiled and walked off.

Lambert crossed his arms and sighed, "Guess we can rest."

Yennefer sat down, "Of course we can."

Ciri sat down as well and crossed her legs.

"Man, if my medallion doesn't stop fucking humming, I'm gonna rip the damn thing off!" Lambert exclaimed.

"Shut up, Lambert," Geralt muttered. "Alright, let's just rest..."

"Fine." Lambert muttered, taking off his medallion. "But not with this thing on me."

"You do you..." Geralt rolled his eyes.

—

Kristina woke up first. She sat up in her cot wrapped up in wool blankets. She looked around, wondering how she got there. Then, she looked at Professor Snape. He slept quietly beside her, wrapped up in his own blanket. They had moved, but how did he move her without waking her up? She thought long and hard, but nothing came to mind. You know, for a Ravenclaw my mind blanks a lot.

She sighed and rolled out of her cot, nearly falling right out onto her face. After getting out of the bed, she circled around to her professor and watched him sleep. She'd never seen him sleep like this. She's seen him sleep in his chair, just once, but not in a bed. He looked so...almost peaceful, really. He always looked so serious and irritated, especially in the past seven years, but he looked less so in his sleep.

She heard music. She glanced around until she saw the window. It was still dark, but she could sense someone outside. Somewhere. She stood up and walked towards the window. She clutched her arms, feeling the soft fabric of her Snape-like jacket. She was cold.

When she got to thewindow, she didn't see anything at first. She could hear water dripping and the music still, but as her eyes adjusted she could see a faint outline. A slender figure with pointy ears.

"Iorveth?" Kristina mumbled. Well, it couldn't be Avallac'h because he didn't carry an instrument. Had to be Iorveth.

Kristina jumped into the windowsill and looked below to see how far the drop was. She decided to just stay in the windowsill and watch the elegant scoia'tael elf play. Soon, it stopped. The elven figure disappeared.

She brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear and sighed as she hopped back into the evening room. She watched Professor Snape again. Now he'd shrugged off his blanket and it was halfway down his back. Kristina walled over and pulled the blanket back up to keep him warm. He did that all the time when she was little, she thought she would return the favor. Sleep well, Uncle Severus, she thought. Quickly, she hurried out of the room and out to see the elves. She cast lumos, then realized maybe Snape cast a spell to prevent from waking her up. Without his wand? But it was the only logical explanation.

Kristina ran down the stairs, what felt like a long set, until she got to the bottom, where there were the two witchers, sleeping, and the sorceress, also asleep. But, she saw Avallac'h and Iorveth, either still awake or just woke up. She didn't know. She shivered under her jacket and watched the elves quietly. The ball of light glimmered in her hand and illuminated her pale face and brightened her crimson eyes. She had no clue her eyes haven't changed back.

Despite the obvious ball of light, the elves remained unaware.

"Yeah, I felt someone watching me," Iorveth said.

"That is rather strange," Avallac'h furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

"Wasn't Kristina, either," Iorveth added. "I saw her watching me, but I felt this. It was most definitely not her."

He saw her, Kristina realized. Dammit. She kept quiet.

"I am willing to concieve the idea that someone did this on purpose," Avallac'h suddenly mentioned. "It is no coincidence that Geralt, Lambert, Cirilla, and Yennefer disappeared with Severus, Meriwether, Kristina, and Erin replacing them. The question is a matter of who."

"We probably should figure out the why first," Iorveth pointed out. "That will lead us to the who."

"Perhaps you are right," Avallac'h agreed. "Why and who would do this?"

"Good questions," Iorveth sighed.

Kristina agreed. Yes, why and who did this? Suddenly, Avallac'h and Iorveth noticed her. Avallac'h saw her face being illuminated by her magic ball of light and then Iorveth followed his gaze. Kristina's face turned an embarrassed shade of pink and the lumos ball disappeared from her hands. She swallowed hard.

"Good morning, Kristina," Avallac'h greeted.

Kristina mumbled an emarrassed response but neither Avallac'h nor Iorveth understood what she was saying.

"You alright?" Avallac'h asked.

Kristina nodded.

"I'm guessing everyone else is asleep?" Avallac'h asked.

Kristina nodded.

"Why don't you sit down, then?" Iorveth gestured. "Perhaps you could help us figure out what's going on."

"Perhaps..." Kristina agreed, sitting down with the elves.

"So tell us, what did the portal feel like?" Avallac'h asked.

"Excuse me?" Kristina asked.

"What did the air feel like?"

"T-Tight," Kristina answered. "I could hardly breathe. Sounds were muffled. If any one had screamed, I didn't hear. I could barely feel my uncle's cloak in my hands."

"That certainly is not a normal portal then," Avallac'h confirmed. "Makes the people who enter sick, pulls them in, and has a tight air... Never have I gone through a portal like that."

"I haven't ever gone through a portal," Iorveth shrugged.

"Neither have I," Kristina admitted. "I thought they would be nicer."

"They usually are," Avallac'h said. "Alright. So where you and your friends were, was there someone else in the vicinity?"

"Not that i remember," Kristina admitted. "I was in the middle of reading outloud. Uncle Snape was helping me to speak louder and clearer for a trial. I don't speak very loudly or clearly. I wasn't looking at anybody."

"But you sensed someone there, didn't you? I would expect so, considering you are a demon."

"Well...I mean...I really don't remember...Avallac'h," Kristina said.

Kristina shifted in her seat uncomfortably. The elf was staring at her as if she were hiding something, yet she honestly didn't remember. Sighing, she crossed her legs.

"So how come Severus is so bitter yet so kind to you?" Iorveth asked. "I mean, I did not like his attitude but when it came to you, he was gentle and caring. He even cast this spell on you to levitate you and keep from waking you when we went upstairs."

"You mean levicorpus?" Kristina asked. "That must've been it...he used that on me when I was little. Also the cat ears but that was an old one he's tried to forget."

"Why's he bitter, though?"

Kristina paused. She didn't know. She just knew it had started six years ago.

"Uncle...Severus...never...told me," she fumbled in her speech. "He just started being really...uhm...grumpy six years ago. He never stopped caring about me, though. Sometimes when I see him, he looks really distant, then angry. Especially after hearing a conversation about this kid named Harry Potter. Supposedly he was protected from an evil guy named Voldemort and wasn't killed. Dunno what's so special about that, I mean really. Maybe the goddess Kali protected him, like she is a mother so... she protected me when I had surgery. But Severus gets upset whenever someone mentions his name. Dunno why. And he's always brooding about it too..."

"Hm..." Avallac'h frowned. "So your uncle is perhaps hiding something from you."

"I mean it's none of my business so I never really asked," Kristina said plainly. Then, she shrugged. "Don't bother asking him about it, though. He won't tell anyone, really."

"Alright, I was simply curious if there was a specific reason why he was grumpy with everyone but you," Iorveth smiled.

Kris shifted in her seat again, "You know...I should go see if they're all awake. If not, I can nap..."

"You seem uncomfortable," Avallac'h noted as she stood up.

"No, just awkward," she muttered, leaving to go back up the stairs. She rushed back up the stairs and sighed. Her face felt hot and she smiled stupidly. She had a crush on Avallac'h. She reentered the room and walked back over to her potions master and uncle. The expression on his face was grim, she realized. Like he was stressed. A bad dream, perhaps? She walked over to him.

"Uncle Severus?" She whispered. He didn't move. Tears, however, streamed down his cheeks and she put her hand on his face. He's crying! Why would he be crying? She panicked. He wasn't waking up either.

"Severus! Severus!" She shook him with her other hand. "Professor Snape! Uncle Severus! Wake up!"

All of a sudden, she stopped. She couldn't move, she was frozen in place. Her hand remained on her uncle's cheek and she closed her eyes. Something was happening. Why wouldn't her uncle Snape wake up? Why couldn't she move? Then, she realized she was in his dreams. Whoever was doing this has interesting powers, she had to admit.

"Uncle Snape?" She said, then looked around. "So I'm in his dreams, huh? Didn't know he dreamt..." She walked. She was back in the dungeons at Hogwarts, walking towards Slytherin's area. "Why am I walking into the Slytherin dungeons?"

She kept walking. She even got into the common room. Then, her legs carried her towards the rooms. She kept walking until she found Snape in his room. It was dark, but he had a candle lit, illuminating only his face. His stressed face. He looked much older, like he was in his forties now. His hair was still greasy and jet-black. His face was in a permanent scowl.

"Uncle Severus?" she asked.

He didn't hear her. Instead, he furiously scribbled on a piece of parchment and clenched his hand against his face. He was writing a letter, wasn't he?

"Kristina," he muttered, furrowing his eyebrows. "I wonder if you have grown up since I last saw you."

She walked towards him and leaned over his shoulder. He was writing a letter. She looked closely. It was to her. She read it.

"Dear Kristina,

If you are reading this, I'm dead. I know, you do not want that but it's too late. It's already happened, nothing you can do. I wanted to tell you why I stopped being even remotely happy when you first started coming here." She couldn't make out his handwriting afterwards but at the end she saw him write, "Despite how cold I was, I will love you like you were my own child. Always."

"Always," she repeated. She never knew Snape could ever say or even write the phrase 'I love you' and the last word, 'always' hit her hard. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Uncle Snape..."

He put down the pen and sighed at the parchment. Once dry, he rolled it up and tied it and set it somewhere safe. Then, he turned to look at her. Did he see her? He must've because that was when he woke up. She opened her eyes and realized she was still touching his face.

"Kristina," he started, glaring at her. "Why are you touching my face?"

She stared at him, not sure how to respond. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it out of shock.

"Kristina?"

She swallowed hard, "Y-You were crying. I wanted to make you feel better."

"Why would you-you know, never mind. I do not need the answer to that..." Snape sighed. When he sat up, he felt a pain in his shoulder and winced. "Ah! What the hell happened to my shoulder? Kristina?!"

"You literally would not wake up," Kristina told him. "I just shook you awake..."

"It feels as if you punched me," Snape frowned as he tried to rubbed his shoulder.

She avoided asking about the dream as her uncle worked on making his shoulder feel better.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked.

"Long enough..." Kristina answered. "It's still dark out."

"Doesn't mean anything now that I'm wide awake," Snape grumbled. "Alright. Shall we let Smith and Moses to continue sleeping?"

"Sure," Kristina smiled.

"Have some...time...with your favorite professor?" Snape almost cracked a smile. His face twitched as he tried but the smile never came. "Perhaps we could explore this place?"

Kristina nodded, "Yeah!"

She and her uncle rose to their feet and exited the room together. Kris walked close to him and followed him down the stairs. She could hear Avallac'h and Iorveth still talking and she thought about the fact that Snape was grumpy to everyone but her.

"Uncle Severus?" she started nervously.

He didn't look, "Yes?"

"How come you're mean to other people but really nice to me?" she asked.

"I do not know what you mean." He did, but he wanted to avoid answering the question.

Kris frowned, "Avallac'h and Iorveth noticed your attitude towards them versus me."

"Maybe I just don't like them."

"But you're like this with Professor Moses and sometimes Erin and my classmates."

Irritated, Snape snapped at her, "It's none of your business, Kristina!"

She blinked away some tears, "Sorry...I didn't mean to..."

Snape sighed, "No, no...Just don't cry..."

"I'm not crying," Kris grumbled. "Bumbling fool..."

This time, Snape smiled.

"Now now, I know I taught you that but you are not to use that phrase on me," he told her.

Kris pouted.

"You are just like your father," Snape sighed.

Kris smiled again, "I am."

—

Their wands remained in the courtyard. All together, on top of one another. A little owl found them. She smelled them. One was her master, another was her uncle, another was her professor, and the last was her best friend. She hooted and spun her head around to find a human. She hooted again.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

"Goodness gracious, where is Severus? That bloody fool..."

"Hoo!"

The snowy owl saw Professor McGonagall and that's when she noticed the owl.

"Oh hello there, Ivory," she greeted.

Ivory nudged the wands towards the professor, "Hoo!"

McGonagall reached down and picked up the first wand, a black one, recognizing it as her colleague's.

"This is Severus's wand," she mumbled, then picked up the one under it. Also black, but much smaller. "Kristina's..." The next one was a dark brown wand. Meriwether's. The last one, McGonagall thought, was Erin's. "Where did they go?"

"Hoo..." Ivory didn't know.

"That is certainly not good," McGonagall realized. "Have you seen them?"

"Hoo?"

"I suppose not."

"Hoo."

"I need to go find them," McGonagall looked around. "They must be here somewhere." She took off, leaving the little owl by herself. The owl watched sadly, thinking about her master.

"Hoo..." Ivory flew off and found her way back to the Owlry.

—

"Voldemort is planning to attack," came a voice. "We need to prepare for it."

"I think we have the perfect people to help," came another voice, more familiar.

"Why are we going into the dining hall?"

"That's where our guests are."

Geralt opened his eyes. His body surprisingly didn't hurt. His witcher senses caught the scent of Dumbledore and another two people. He opened his eyes and glanced beside him at Ciri, who was sleeping peacefully beside him. Her ashen hair was undone from the bun it was in the previous evening. On the other side of him was Yennefer. On the other side of Yennefer was Lambert. Damn, he even looked pissed off in his sleep.

Geralt sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His yellow, cat-like eyes pierced the early morning darkness inside the strange room and, using his witcher senses, he could smell Dumbledore and two new people. They must've seen him sit up and look at him and the strangers seemingly froze mid-sentence to stare. He could already tell what they were thinking: freak. White-haired freak, he added grudingly in his mind.

"Is that a human?" the female asked.

"Of course," Dumbledore assured.

"Damn, he ugly," the man muttered.

"Dunno, he's rather handsome."

"He's a freak, Michelle!"

"Geralt, I see you're awake."

Geralt rested an elbow on his knee, "I guess I am."

"Would you please wake your friends, then?"

Geralt agreed and woke up his friends. Ciri groaned, Lambert jolted up and punched Geralt, and Yennefer woke to the sound of Geralt punching Lambert back.

"Asshole!"

"Geralt! Lambert! Be courteous in front of our hosts," Yennefer groaned.

Geralt rubbed his eye, "Hey, I _was_ being courteous. Lambert chose to punch me because he's a jackass."

"Go plough yourself, Geralt," Lambert sneered.

"Enough of this nonsense!" came the male voice.

"Lambert!" Yennefer broke up the men. "Alright, you both need to calm down or I will personally torture you myself."

"Hmmm promise?" Geralt grinned.

"And it will not be pleasant," Yennefer concluded.

"Yikes," Lambert snorted.

"Stop this side chat this instant or face the unmitigated wrath of the Ministry!"

"Bartemius, I don't suggest..." came Dumbledore's voice.

"I will send you all to Azkaban if you do not stop this utter nonsense!" Barty Crouch exclaimed over the witchers' and sorceress's conversation.

"Azkaban?" Yennefer asked.

"That sounds like a jail," Ciri commented.

"It is," Barty growled.

"What're you gonna send us to jail for?" Lambert sneered. "We haven't done anything."

"Yeah, we're just bickering like we always do," Geralt muttered, his gravelly voice cracking with annoyance.

"Again, I ask you to stop this nonsense before I send you to Azkaban!"

"I would like to see you try, whoreson!" Lambert stood up and reached to draw his sword, only to remember he didn't have it. He was going to have to settle on his fists.

"Oh please, guys, let's not get into a bad start," Dumbledore pleaded.

"Yeah, no shit," Ciri agreed.

"Lambert..." Geralt stood up with Ciri and grabbed Lambert's arm. "You should keep your big mouth shut, idiot."

"When has _that_ ever worked on me, Geralt?" Lambert asked.

Lambert started muttering curses under his breath, wishing he could've knocked the smug smile off of Barty's face.

"I deeply apologize for our behavior," Geralt apologized after returning his yellow-eyed gaze to the strangers. The woman beside Barty, Michelle, seemed like she didn't even want to be there but she was. Barty was still scowling angrily at the witchers.

"It's alright, Geralt," Dumbledore assured, glancing at Barty Crouch. "Right, Bartemius?"

He snorted but agreed reluctantly.

"So Geralt, Lambert, Yennefer, and Ciri, this is Barty Crouch and Michelle Harus," Dumbledore started quickly to avoid any more tension. "They are here to take you to the Ministry of Magic to offer you four a position in our fight against Voldemort."

"Indeed," Barty stiffened.

"I don't see how we can be of help, considering Geralt and I are just monster slayers," Lambert said. "We're just good with swords, not magic like Yennefer and Ciri."

"Well it doesn't mean you can't help us," Barty told them. "How about you lot come with us and we'll show you what we want you to do? Let's see, we're going to need some Floo powder and a fireplace."

"A what?" Geralt asked.

"Come!" Barty exclaimed. "Albus, please show us to the nearest fireplace."

"Of course," he agreed.

Dumbledore led them all out and to the closest fireplace. They could hear little Kristina in the distance talking with her uncle Severus again. Ciri glanced around until she found them. Kris looked distressed and was crying.

"They were being mean to me," she cried. "C-Cause I am close with you."

"Did you tell them that I'm your uncle?" Severus asked.

Kristina shook her head.

"Perhaps if you do, they will leave you alone," Severus winked. "If they know I will give them detention for hurting you, then they will stop."

"What if they don't?" Kris asked.

"Oh, they will," Severus smirked. "Trust me on that. Don't you worry one bit, child. Your uncle Severus here has your back."

"Okay..." Kristina blinked away a tear and her uncle wiped it away.

"No crying, not on my watch!" he told her with a semi-reassuring smile. He was trying so hard to smile and yet he could barely manage it, Ciri noticed. Why was he like that?

"What's the story behind Severus?" she asked the people in the lead.

"What do you mean?" Barty asked.

"I mean, why is he hardly the cheeriest person ever? He's like Lambert, almost," Ciri commented.

"I do not see how that is any of your business," Barty said.

"He's just simply gone through too much," Dumbledore kept it as simple as he could. "I do not think he'd appreciate me telling his business to strangers, however, so let's leave it at that, shall we?"

Ciri frowned, "Of course."

"Alright so here we are," Dumbledore told them.

"So how does this floo stuff work?" Yennefer asked.

"Just take a dash of it, throw it into the fire, step in and tell it where you need to go," Michelle explained before Barty could be more rude to the strangers.

"Which is the Ministry of Magic," Barty finished with a glare. "Just say Ministry of Magic and you'll be taken there."

"All right," Yennefer agreed. "Simple enough."

"Well, let me go first then," Geralt stepped forward. They gave him the powder, and he did exactly as they told him. "Ministry of Magic." He disappeared and reappeared in the Ministry of Magic's fireplace. He stepped out and looked around, surprised by the sounds of keys clacking on typewriters and such. He'd never even seen such devices! Next to come was Barty Crouch, then Yennefer, and then Ciri, Michelle, and Lambert.

"Ah, we are all here in one piece," Barty nodded. "Well, shall we get to work, then?"

"Sure..." Geralt raised an eyebrow.

—

Kristina and Snape both left the protection of Kaer Morhen to explore. It was still pretty dark, but with the help of lumos, they were able to see pretty well. They both held a ball of light in their hands, which was a replacement for their wands. They looked around as they headed down the side of a stream.

"All these strange plants, and yet we know nothing about them," Snape commented.

Kristina nodded in agreement. She could think of all the possible potions that could be made from all the plants in different combinations with other stuff.

Snape suddenly stopped and then Kris. They both heard a sound, like a low gurgling sound. Snape put his hand out to keep Kris from going to chase off whatever it was. Then, the scent hit their noses. Both of them gagged and doubled over, both ready to vomit at that stench.

"What is that ungodly smell?" Snape coughed.

"I don't know," Kris gagged. "Must be some sort of monster."

That's when they saw it. It looked like a decomposing human body with its skin stripped away. It stared at them and and both Kristina and Snape stepped backwards.

"What is that?" Kris asked.

Snape grabbed her arm, "Let's go. We shall find somewhere else to look around."

Kristina gaped but she turned with her uncle and they ran off together. That's when the monster started running after them. Kris looked over her shoulder as the monster started gaining on them.

"Snape! It's following us!" she cried. "It's gonna catch up."

"Not if I can help it," Snape forced himself to run faster. Kris kept up the pace. The monster kept up with them.

Kristina made herself run faster and she pulled her uncle behind her instead of him dragging her. The monster still wasn't about to relent.

"We need to get rid of it," Snape told her.

"How?!" Kris asked.

Snape let go and quickly and aimed his hand as if he had his wand, _"Evanesco_!"

"The monster should disappear," he muttered.

The monster didn't disappear and Snape muttered curses under his breath.

" _Expulso_!" he suddenly yelled.

"Wait, no don't do that!" Kris screeched. "Are you crazy?"

"It's going to kill it," Snape pointed out.

"And make it explode! Gross!" Kris cried.

Snape took Kris and held her close to him as he turned his back to the monster and tried to protect her from what was about to happen. However, the monster exploded before Snape could protect Kristina. Flesh and bone fragments were sent through the air, injuring both Snape and Kristina. Kris screamed in horror and Snape just groaned. Not only did the spell made the monster explode, but the gasses that were coming from it were released into the surrounding air. The gasses were toxic. After Snape turned to look at the mess that was the monster, originally, he caught the smell of the toxins.

"Shit," he cursed. "Kristina, we need to run."

Kris gagged but before she could make any sort of response, Snape grabbed her arm again and made her run with him back to the protective walls of Kaer Morhen.

"Uncle Severus," she started. "You couldn't have used a binding spell?"

Snape ignored her question and kept running. They ran and ran until they finally got to the castle, where they both cast a spell to rid themselves of the monster bone fragments and flesh.

"Absolutely disgusting!" Kristina winced as the bone fragments were ripped from her skin by the spell. "Owch."

"Alright, I admit that was the worst thing to take you to do," Snape grumbled, also wincing. "However, I did not expect there to be monsters so close to a monster slayer school."

Kristina looked up at the sky, slowly lightening up. She gave an awkward smile.

"It's not your fault," she told him.

Snape scoffed, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah," Kris assured him.

Snape shook his head and crossed his arms.

"So if there are monsters like that out there, I'm not so sure we should ever try to leave like that without a witcher," he told Kristina.

"Definitely," Kris agreed.

Snape turned around, "How could such a monster ever evolve?"

"It couldn't," Kristina answered plainly. "At least, in our world it couldn't."

They walked quietly back into the castle walls. Even though they both now smelled like the monster, Kris clung to Snape's arm and rested her head in his back. He looked at her.

"What, are you sick?"

"N-No."

"Why are you clinging to me?"

"Because..." Kris blushed. "Because I can!"

"That is not a valid excuse."

Kris scowled, "Maybe I just miss hanging out with my Uncle Severus... Even if we nearly got killed in the process."

Snape frowned, "Hm..."

And they continued in silence.


	3. Well That Escalated Quickly

**Chapter 3**

When they got back to the keep, they saw Vesemir, Eskel, Avallac'h, and Iorveth waiting for them.

"Where did you guys go?" Vesemir asked.

After a tense pause, Kris spoke up, "Uhm, I think you guys have a monster problem."

Snape snorted in amusement. Presented with a question, of course she chooses a way to avoid it to be a smartass.

Vesemir frowned, "...What do you mean?"

"We ran into this monster that exploded after I cast a spell on it," Snape told him. "I mean, it was an exploding spell but it seemed to affect the monster differently than it would've in our world."

"It reeked!" Kristina complained. "Trolls smell like roses compared to these things."

"A rotfiend," Eskel told them.

"A rotfiend?" both Kristina and Snape asked in unison.

"Why are they called 'rotfiend'?" Kris asked.

"You don't think they're called rotfiends because they smell like roses, do you?" Vesemir pointed out.

"Obviously not," Professor Snape frowned.

"Are you injured?" Avallac'h asked.

"I don't know," Kristina checked her arms. She had a few rips in her jacket from the bones and some wounds. "I guess so." She looked at her professor and he turned around.

"I think you had the most damage," she told him. "Take off your cloak?"

He grumbled something under his breath but he took it off and Kris could make out tiny holes in the back. Shrugging, she put it on while he started unbuttoning his jacket and then his shirt.

"As far as I know, I got all the fragments out," Snape mumbled, lifting his shirt to show his backside, covered in small holes and lacerations from bone fragments

"I'll go get Triss," Eskel muttered.

"That bad?" Snape wondered.

"You could say that," Kris touched the bloodied wounds. "Bloody hell!"

"Rotfiends are dangerous monsters," Vesemir told them. "If it exploded and you two were near enough, it could've actually killed you. Severus, you are lucky it didn't kill you. It only got your back, it seems."

"It...stings, quite a bit," Snape realized as he felt the air and Kris's touch on his back.

Kris wiped off some blood from him, "Those are some ugly bastards."

"Oh we know," Vesemir agreed.

Awkwardly, Kristina examined her uncle's blood on her hand and waited until she would start wanting to devour his soul. She never did. Confused, she dropped her hand and looked to Avallac'h, examining her closely. Iorveth was quiet. Soon, they heard Erin and Meriwether running down the stairs. Erin took one look at them all and knew something had happened. Especially since her professor was nearly shirtless and Kris had blood on her hands.

"What happened?" she asked. "And why do you two smell like a rotting body?"

"I'm not sure I want to know how you know what a rotting body smells like," Kristina muttered.

"Not sure I want to know myself," Snape grumbled.

"Either way, what happened?" Erin asked.

Kris sniffed the blood on her hand and it had some of Snape's blood in it but mostly the rotfiend's blood. Disgusting!

"We ran into a rotfiend," she finally answered, showing her uncle the blood. He looked and she said, "Some of it is yours but the rest is that rotfiend's blood."

"That is...fascinating..." Snape muttered, not really intrigued.

"A what?" Meriwether asked.

"A rotfiend," Vesemir answered. "The lovely lass and her uncle here ran into a nasty monster that explodes if it is killed. Although, they hadn't killed it at first but instead he cast a spell that made the monster react strangely..."

"Ew," Erin commented. "That's gross."

"It was," Snape glanced to the side and saw Triss Merigold rushing over to them with Eskel. Relief filled his veins.

"Goodness! Are you guys insane?" she exclaimed at Snape and Kris. Then, she turned to Avallac'h and Iorveth, "Why did you two let them roam outside the castle?"

"Wasn't expecting them to do that," Iorveth grumbled.

"They simply just left," Avallac'h answered.

"Don't do it again," Triss took Snape's arms to hold him still to examine his wounds. "If they had armor on, they wouldn't have gotten hurt as badly. You two are lucky you survived a rotfiend explosion."

"So we have been told," Snape winced as Triss ran her fingers across the wound.

"Not too deep, but enough to get infected. Here..." She cast a spell to heal him. "Not gonna provoke anymore rotfiends, right Severus?"

"I did not provoke the bastard," he pointed out. "It came at us simply because we smelled good enough to eat. I cast a spell to kill it and it exploded."

"It would've exploded even if you'd used a different spell to kill it," Kris sighed. "It just reacted weirdly to expulso. Not the same way as it would in our world."

"You have a valid point," Snape grumbled.

Triss moved her hand away, "Alright, you can put your shirt back on."

Snape pulled his shirt back over his head and then took his jacket and buttoned it back up.

"Neither one of you get near me while you smell like rotfiend," Erin told them.

"Why would I go near you, child?" Snape retorted.

"...Touché," Erin responded. "Geez, love you too, Professor."

Snape gave a grudingly indulgent smirk at his pupil, "You are very much welcome."

"Kris, are you okay?" Triss asked.

Kris nodded, grinning, "Upside to being me, I heal fast." She gave Snape his robe back and showed Triss the tears in her jacket. "See? Completely healed. Though, I don't think my mind will ever heal from that..."

She looked aside at Avallac'h, feeling embarrassed. He didn't seem to notice her embarrassment. A stern expression was etched on his face.

"I want to see this creature," Meriwether said. "I just wanna study it's biological functions and figure out how such a creature can exist."

"Wouldn't recommend it," Iorveth said.

"Can't really study them up close with the toxic fumes," Vesemir agreed.

"Bet Hagrid would get a kick out of these monsters," Snape grumbled.

A picture of Hagrid hugging a rotfiend crossed Kris's mind and she shuddered. Well, he would try and most certainly fail in taming a rotfiend. Those things had practically no brains. Like they were zombies, almost. At least Hippogriffs had actual feelings and a legit thought process.

"Meriwether, the moment you meet a rotfiend, you will piss yourself and run away screaming," Snape retorted with a smirk.

"Yeah right!" Meriwether grinned. "I can beat up a monster. Look!"

Meriwether made a strange movement with his hands in an attempt to show that he could attack. Snape face-palmed and sighed.

"If that's how you fight, we are doomed," he grumbled.

"Hey now!" Meriwether grumbled.

"Well..." Erin interrupted. "What do we eat for breakfast? Or first meal? Whatever it's called here..."

"Well..."

"Yeah, what do we eat?" Meriwether wondered.

"Uhm wolf or siren steaks?" Eskel asked.

Triss scoffed, "Well how about I take the girls to Novigrad and we can pick out food there?"

"How?" Snape asked, dubious.

"A portal," after getting horrified expressions, she giggled. "No, not the same one you guys came through. It's not going to hurt you guys at all, I promise. I can only take the girls. Unless one girl wants to stay behind and a guy come with?"

"I'll come," Snape offered. "And Erin can stay back."

"I didn't want to leave, really," Erin grinned and then looked at Kris and whispered, "BRING BACK PADS."

"WHAT IF THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS PADS HERE?" Kris whispered back.

"Then I'm really screwed for the next week," Erin answered plainly.

Kristina nodded in agreement. If they're stuck there, then they would both be screwed.

"We'll see," she nodded.

"Alright," Triss opened up a portal. "Shall we go now, Severus? Kristina?"

Snape nodded awkwardly and Kristina did as well.

"Off to Novigrad for _real_ food," Triss stuck her tongue out at Eskel and Vesemir.

"Sorry, we're witchers, not butchers," Eskel shrugged.

Kris walked through the portal with her uncle and Triss. When they arrived on the otherside, Kristina immediately felt a wave of sickness again. She doubled over, nauseous. Triss gasped and Snape immediately crouched down to make sure she was okay.

"Kristina?" Triss asked.

"Perhaps portal travel upsets her body," Snape commented. "Have you any potions for this?"

"Well I can heal her, but not here," Triss pulled up her hood and she helped Kristina to her feet.

"What? Why?" Professor Snape demanded.

Triss gestured for him to follow her, "There are people watching. If I heal her here, they're going to tell a witch hunter and that'll be a mess in of itself."

"What do you mean?" Professor Snape asked, following Triss to a back alleyway in Novigrad.

"Emperor Emhyr var Emreis, the Emperor of the Nilfgaardian Empire, does not like sorcerers," Triss started. "Even though he hired Yennefer to help find Ciri, he still orders anyone who remotely shows magical abilities to be executed. You and Kristina don't look like sorcerers, entirely, but if they saw you perform a spell they would jump on the opportunity to execute you."

"That's stupid," Kristina muttered.

"Considering there used to be witch hunts all the time in the past," Professor Snape reminded Kristina. "It's not really surprising it happens in other worlds."

"I know, I was just saying that witch hunts are stupid," Kristina grumbled.

"They are," Triss agreed. "Alright, we should be safe here. Let me heal you right quick and then we can begin gathering decent food."

She put a gentle hand on Kristina's back and tried to heal her. She gasped when she heard someone coming.

"Shit! Someone's coming!" Her magic faded and Snape's attention went from Kristina to some strangely-dressed people running through. They had steel swords on their backs and red and yellow emblems sown onto their armor. Kristina's head was able to hide Triss's face just enough that the men in armor didn't question it. They simply gave her, Severus, and Triss a nod and walked past. Kristina could feel Triss's panic fade as the men trotted away. She breathed a sigh of relief and finished healing Kristina.

"Who were those men?" Kristina asked.

"Those were the witch hunters I was talking about," Triss responded.

Snape glanced back at them walking away and frowned. Witch hunters, huh? Would those exist in their realm if the muggles knew about the wizards? That would most certainly be a predicament. He shuddered at the thought and looked back to the women.

"Okay, well since that's been taken care of, let's find real food. Preferably before we run into Dandelion," Triss looked around.

"Who's Dandelion?" Kris asked.

"One of Geralt and I's...I suppose close friend," Triss answered. "He's a bard."

"Oh, lovely," Snape muttered. "Bunch of pansies, if I might say."

Triss giggled, "Well, he's not entirely a pansy but he sure thinks he's got balls. He always needs rescuing by Geralt."

"Hm, just as I thought," Snape sighed. "I certainly hope he does not decide he needs rescuing while we're here."

"I hope not either," Triss agreed and began walking again. Kristina and Snape both exchanged uneasy glances as they followed the redheaded witch. "Sheesh, it's cold here in Novigrad."

Kris looked around. A feeling of unease settled in her stomach and she grabbed Snape's arm and brought him closer so they could talk, trekking a little slower.

"I'm not so sure this place is safe," she told him.

"Why? Other than the obvious witch hunters," he asked with a retort.

"Be serious, Uncle Severus!" Kristina hissed at him.

"I'm not going to be that traitor," he bantered. He knew exactly what she meant, but he decided to be a smartass.

Kris punched his side, "Seriously, Severus!"

"Fine! Fine," he muttered. "Why do you feel at unease?"

"It wasn't cold two minutes ago when the witch hunters had walked by," Kris answered lightly.

Snape pulled out his hands from their respective pockets and felt the air, "You are right, it is colder than it was."

Kristina nodded, "It reminds me of yesterday."

"When we appeared on top of the castle?" Snape asked. "When the... _wild hunt_ lot were there?"

"Precisely," Kristina responded.

"What would bring them here?" Snape wondered.

"Triss," Kristina looked at the redhead and Snape listened.

"Yes?"

"You said Dandelion lives here in Novigrad?"

"Yep."

"Does he know Ciri?"

"Well, of course he does," Triss nodded. "Why are you asking?"

"Uhm, well..." Kristina looked around. "I think the Wild Hunt may be here to find Dandelion, thinking he knows where she went."

"What?" Triss's face grew horrified when she made the connection. "The cold air...Not good! Oh! Come on...can't a girl get food and eat before being attacked? Sheesh!"

"Where is Dandelion?" Kristina asked. "We need to get to him before the Wild Hunt does. From what Avalla'ch told me, they are not a very nice lot."

"No, they aren't," Triss agreed. "Severus, Kristina, I want you both to be prepared to attack Eredin and his men if it comes to that."

"I can certainly do my best," Snape nodded.

"I'm a lot faster than most people, being a demon now," Kristina assured with a smile. "If they attack, they'll fail."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Triss warned. "Come on, let's find him before he gets into trouble!"

Kris shivered against the cold air as she and Snape followed quickly. The two of them cast a warming charm on themselves as they rushed. The cold air was not a welcome surprise at that particular moment.

Professor Snape looked around and felt a tension in the air. Like there was something going on and they were most certainly going to end up in a fight. Kristina felt the tension as well and she could hardly bear it.

"I don't like this feeling," she murmured.

"Neither do I," Snape concurred.

"Oh my goodness, Dandelion!" came Triss's voice.

When they looked up, they were greeted by the sight of strange men in metal armor. Each man wore their own personal design. The air was colder there than just a few feet back, and they were surrounded by strange hounds. Kristina studied the metal men. The first one was tall, standing at maybe a bit over her uncle's height, wearing a metal skeleton-like armor. Metal 'ribs' and spiky pauldrons. Underneath he had red leather padding—she couldn't tell what kind of outfit it was. On his head was a skull helmet with horns at the top. He was perhaps the most intimidating of the lot.

The second man wasn't much shorter than the first, wearing a similar armor but with huge pauldrons and layered metal going down his arms like sleeves. His helmet had nothing on top, and wasn't much like a skull. The pieces covering his face and ears were slightly bent forward and had two holes over each eye so he could see, plus two over top each nostril for his nose.

The last man was probably the shortest, but not by all that much. His helmet was similar to the second's, but he had a strange circle on top of his head with three arrows pointing up. Two on either side and one on top. His armor had metal ribs but no pauldrons per se. Where the first and second men had intimidating pauldrons, this man had a fur collar. And yet, he was scary nonetheless.

"Where is _Zireael_?" asked the 'king' of the Hunt, as Kristina assumed was the man with the skull-like helmet. He asked a puny man in the middle of them all. He wore purple, and the bard's hat on his head had a white feather sticking out. He had dark brown, shaggy, shoulder-length hair and a goatee and thin mustache. He had dim green eyes, and right now there was an expression of horror etched on the young man's face.

"Zireael? Y-You mean, Ciri?" the puny man asked.

"So much for not wanting to save Dandelion's ass again," Triss muttered.

"What do we do?" Kristina asked. "How do we attack the Wild Hunt?"

"That is...difficult," Triss admitted. "You guys can use your magic spells too. I'll put up a shield around the two of you and let's see how it goes."

"What? I do not recall us agreeing to being guinea pigs," Snape growled.

"Do we have much choice?" Triss hissed.

"We can use _expelliarmus_ and _expulso_ ," Kristina told Snape.

"Because that is going to do us a lot of good!" Snape rolled his eyes. "Other ideas, child. You're a Ravenclaw. You must have something interesting that could help."

"Well, I mean..." Kris frowned. "I could release my demon on them, but I don't know how much it'll hurt me. Last time it happened, I was drained of energy."

"You can try it again if nothing else," Snape told her gently. "I can back you up with my spells, keep them preoccupied on me while you ambush them."

Kristina hesitated, looked at the man in the middle, and sighed. Her heart told her to go in but she couldn't decide on whether to go demon or just try to stay as a human wizard.

"I want to try magic first," she told Snape. "The demon is my last resort."

"If you are willing to try, I see no sense in not doing so," he told her, cupping his hands together and exhaling from his mouth to keep his hands warm. Surprisingly, he began shivering. Kristina followed not even a few seconds later.

"This chill is too much for our magic to handle," he looked to both Triss and Kristina. "We should try to get this done as soon as possible before we all freeze."

"I've got a warming spell," Triss assured him. "I'm your backup, alright? Try and see what magic you two can do to at least deter them from Dandelion."

"Fine," Snape grunted and grabbed Kristina, hunching low to avoid a blast of snow.

Kris grabbed his cloak and stretched her piece of it across her face to avoid frostbite on her nose. Snape simply buried his face in the collar of his shirt and ushered Kristina towards the metal men.

"I want you to be careful," he warned loud enough for her to hear but quiet enough that the men didn't hear. "Do not jump in without thinking it through. I want you to take a few moments and predict what spells you may use."

"Uncle Severus..." she groaned.

"Do not 'Uncle Severus' me," he hissed. "Just do as I asked so we do not die."

"Fine," Kristina stared at the men. What would be her best method of approach? Before she could think of a good spell (There being so many spells, too many to remember what they do and chose from!) one of the men looked at the other two and started talking.

"I sense a great power nearby," came the king's voice. "Similar to Zireael's."

Kristina swallowed hard. Were they talking about her?

"Hurry up, you bumbling fool!" Snape gestured for her to think faster. "Think! Use your imagination! That's what being a Ravenclaw is all about. And be cunning about it as well."

"U-Uhm," Kristina hesitated. "Well..."

"Just do it!" Snape slapped her back and she unconsciously let go of his cloak and fell forward. "Shit, I was not meaning to do that. My apologies, Kristina."

"You just surprised me, that's all," Kris scrambled to her feet, touching the frozen ground with her bare hands. She jumped and squeaked, "Owch! That hurts!"

The men turned around towards Kristina and she saw their faces. Each of their gazes met her crimson gaze. She knew she'd just gone and screwed up.

"Kristina, do not just _sit_ there. Cast something!" Snape yelled at her.

"I'm trying!" Kristina closed her eyes tightly and aimed a hand at the men. " _Confringo_!"

The blast that escaped was dodged by the men in metal armor.

"Oh, that was an excellent choice too," Snape's dismay was prominent. " _Expelliarmus_!" He pointed a hand at the men's swords. They dropped their weapons, but quickly grabbed them again and charged at Kristina.

"The child will do fine in the wake of Zireael's disappearance," the king reached for Kristina.

" _Protego_!" Kristina cast too late. She jumped backwards as the leader grabbed her. "Ah, why do you want me? I'm just a witch."

"Obviously no ordinary witch," the leader gestured at her. "You make a fine replacement for Zireael."

"What?" Kris was confused. "But I cannot control space nor time."

The leader ignored her and pointed his staff at the puny man behind them.

"You are free to go," he declared.

"Hey! I haven't agreed to anything, here!" Kristina shouted. "Let go of me, your metal gloves are digging into my arms! Owch!"

Snape stood up and raised a hand to the men in armor, "I recommend you release the child."

"And what would _you_ do about it?" the king sneered. "Sorcerers cannot defeat us. You would be foolish to take us on."

"I am not just _any_ sorcerer," Snape sneered. "I am a wizard. And that young lady you have got there? She's my niece. With that being said, I dare you to take her away from me."

"With pleasure, I plan to," the king responded.

"Eredin, please, no!" Triss cried out. "Kristina is just a little girl!"

Eredin Bréacc Glas, king of the Hunt, turned to Triss.

"Stay out of this, sorceress!" he growled, attempting to attack her with a freeze spell.

Triss held up a shield around her and Snape and she looked at him as he thought of what he was going to do.

"Severus, what do you plan to do?" she asked. "You're not going to let him take her, are you?"

"Of course not," Snape snapped. "She's my responsibility nine months out of the year! Just...I must think it through."

"Hey metal-heads!" came a voice. Snape and Triss looked behind the Wild Hunt members and saw the bard.

"Dandelion, shut your face and run!" Triss yelled.

"Why should I let them take such a charming young lady?" Dandelion asked.

"Because they will kill you if you try!" Triss snapped. "You don't know how to fight, Dandelion."

"Yes, listen to your friend and run," Snape held out his hands to Eredin and his men as Kristina began squirming to escape Eredin's clutches.

"Ack! Uncle Severus," Kristina cried out. "He's hurting me! Hey! Jerkface! Stop clutching my arm, you're about to freaking _break_ it."

Frustrated, Professor Snape growled. Kristina looked like she was too hurt to try casting magic. It didn't help that her hands were restrained. Then, an idea hit him. If he could cast levicorpus on her alone, then she should levitate just enough to be able to break free. But, he needed to distract Eredin first. That's when he looked at Dandelion, who was already at work with that idea.

"Shall I play you guys a lovely tune? Courtesy of my one and only, Priscilla," Dandelion winked at them. "I wouldn't like to let the fair lady leave without hearing a song! She looks like she needs something to think about when she's alone."

"Dandelion, what are you doing?" Triss worried.

"Hm, let him proceed," Snape told her, then lowered his voice. "I've a plan to free Kristina."

"You do?" Triss asked.

"Indeed I do," Snape looked back at Dandelion. "I suggest he proceeds, Mister Eredin. My dearest Kristina needs to hear music to calm her down. You would not like to have to deal with her squirming in your arms, do you?"

Eredin took off his helmet and frowned, studying Severus. After getting approving nods from his generals, he finally looked to Dandelion and huffed.

"Fine, but make it quick, would you? I would like to take her back to Tir ná Lia," he grumbled.

Kristina looked at Snape with furrowed eyebrows.

"Uncle Severus, why?"

"Shut up," he snarled. "Just calm down." _Come on Kristina, you know me oh so well. You should know I have a plan at this point._

She scowled but waited for Dandelion to pull out his lute and begin playing. While Dandelion did what, well, bards did, Snape covertly held out a hand to cast the spell.

" _Levicorpus_ ," he whispered, trying to raise Kristina up high enough that Eredin would let go of her.

While he was able to successfully lift her up, obviously Eredin was not going to play easy. Kristina momentarily felt a sense of relief when she began levitating upwards, but that soon crashed down when Eredin grabbed her even tighter. Annoyed, Snape lifted her up even more to shake him off.

"Bloody hell, let go of her already!" he snapped under his breath. _Kristina, this is the most I can do without getting caught. You must have SOMETHING to break free!_

Kristina kicked her legs and felt them kick Eredin's heavy armor.

"Ow!" she hissed in pain. "Jerk, let go of me! I swear to the goddess—!"

" _Confrigo!_ " Snape finally attacked Eredin, patience running low. This time, the blast surprised the king of the Hunt and he finally let go of Kristina. She dropped down to her knees and scrambled back onto her feet, forcing her way to her uncle Severus. He took her in his arms and glared at the men in metal.

"You fool!" Eredin snarled.

"You're the fool," Snape sneered. "You tried to take the wrong kid from the wrong person."

"Severus," Kristina started quietly. "The way he restrained me. I couldn't conjure up any magic. No matter what came to mind. You wouldn't have been able to tell because I could not move my hands, but I was really trying."

Snape nodded.

"We need the witcher lot, don't you think?" he asked.

"I'm sure they can sense the danger here," Kristina agreed. "But I'm not sure if they can conjure portals like Triss can."

"That is a valid point," Snape agreed.

Triss grabbed Dandelion's arm and jerked him towards them as Eredin growled.

"Tell us where Ciri is or we will take the girl," he growled.

"We don't know where Ciri is," Triss snapped. "During the battle, she, Geralt, Yennefer, and Lambert disappeared."

"It wasn't only Ciri who disappeared, then," Eredin's chagrin was obvious.

"So you guys obviously don't know anything about the disappearance," Triss acknowledged. "So that means we're on the same side, right?"

Eredin scowled and narrowed his eyes, sweeping his locks of black hair back, "Absolutely not, _dh'oinne._ "

"Well, so much for that idea," Triss grumbled.

Kristina finally took the moment to look at the King of the Hunt. Eredin Bréacc Glas had pale green eyes, brought out by the black eyeshadow he wore. His face was thin, and his ears were pointed. _Aen elle_ , as Avallac'h had described to her. An elf. She let go of her uncle Severus and faced Eredin.

"You wish for Ciri to be brought back safe and sound too, right?" she asked him, enamored by his appearance. Her weakness, obviously, were elves.

Eredin looked at her and she forced a step forward.

"If you want Ciri back safe and sound, then we should perhaps be a team...right?" Kristina asked. "In fact...I-I think I know where she may be."

"What do you mean?" Snape growled at her. "You couldn't possibly..."

"In my memories, I see an ashen-haired girl," she reminded him. "You were with me, I was being clingy and we saw her, Geralt, Yennefer, and Lambert following Professor McGonagall."

Snape put his hands on his hips, "I do not remember such an event."

"I do," Kristina frowned. "Don't tell me your memory is failing you NOW! At... THIRTY-SIX YEARS OLD!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Where is she?" Eredin demanded, banging his sword into the ground like he would a staff.

"Our world," Kristina answered.

"You are lying."

"I am not," Kristina assured. "She's in our realm. What realm that is, that is hard to figure out. The realm of the wizards? Perhaps that would be what ours would be called."

"Wait, you mean... _that's_ where they went!" Triss asked.

"I only remember because I was 11 at the time and so...I think they're back when I was 11. Back when Volde—"

"I think we get it," Snape snapped at her. "So they were sent to our realm when we were younger. I get it. But, how on earth did that occur?"

"Only select few have the abilities to travel from realm to realm," Eredin told her. "Most of us in the Wild Hunt, and the traitor Avallac'h."

"Is it an elven thing?" Kristina asked, curious.

"It is only common amongst us of the Wild Hunt," Eredin answered. "We are Aen Elle, but most Aen Elle are not us."

"Oh..." Kristina nodded.

"So are you proposing somebody in your group is a traitor?" Snape asked.

"If anybody, it would be Avallac'h," Eredin sneered.

"I don't think it was him," Triss put her fists on her hips. "He was in the tower, recovering from the first part of the Trial of Grasses. He had very little power to do much."

"I do not care what you think, _dh'oinne_ ," Eredin sneered. "It would likely be him."

"Why is Avallac'h a traitor?" Kristina asked.

"You ask too many questions, child," Eredin snapped.

Pacified, Kristina stepped back and Eredin put his helmet back on.

"We will hunt for Ciri ourselves," he told them. "You will not get in our way."

Triss clenched her hands into fists and watched as they left. Kristina was left confused.

"Why did they give up on me?" she wondered.

"Perhaps they felt you were not worth the effort as much as they thought you were," Snape suggested. "Do not question it and just go with it."

"Really?" Kristina asked.

"Well, they are mostly after Ciri, who is the child of the elderblood. They probably thought you were similar and could replace their need for her, but after you fought to get away from them and such they probably decided you weren't as worth it as Ciri was," Triss explained.

"Hey, am I not going to get any praise for helping?!" Dandelion exclaimed.

"Oh dear me," Snape put a hand on his forehead and gave an exasperated sigh. "I already do not like him."

"Sure, you helped," Triss sighed. "Thanks."

"Yay!" Dandelion danced. "So Triss, why did you come back to Novigrad? I thought it was too dangerous to return."

"Well, I came back to gather some food for breakfast for back at Kaer Morhen," Triss nodded. "Because who would want to eat a drowner or a wolf for breakfast?"

"Geralt," Dandelion grinned.

Triss opened her mouth, thought, and then closed it for a few seconds before replying, "I really don't want to think about that. I do not need to think about if he had a drowner before kissing me..." She shuddered.

"A drowner?" Kristina asked, curious.

"Another monster," Triss explained. "Luckily, not like a rotfiend. These guys live near the shore of lakes and rivers."

"So who's the lovely lass and the..." Dandelion looked at Snape, who shot back a glare.

"Severus Snape," he introduced himself, crossing his arms defensively. Then, he nodded at Kris, "And Kristina Magi."

"Are you two related?" Dandelion asked, grinning stupidly. "Because you two have the same resting expression. And similar outfits too!"

"R-RELATED?" Snape exclaimed. "How dare you—"

Kristina elbowed Snape in the ribs, "No, we're not related. He's my dad's friend, and he's my teacher...and uncle..." She trailed off for a few moments. "But I've spent a lot of time with him. It's no surprise I'm starting to act like him some."

" _Some_?" Snape muttered. "That, and you are wearing a smaller version of my jacket. Goddamn it, Meriwether..."

"You can kill Meriwether later," Triss shrugged at Snape. "Anyways, I—"

"How about you come to the _Rosemary and Thyme_?" Dandelion suggested quickly.

"Dandelion, you know I can't," Triss frowned. "I've got company! Sheesh."

"They can come too!" Dandelion grinned.

"Don't you need to go check on Priscilla?" Triss asked. "She's still in the hospital, is she not?"

Dandelion's eyes widened as the realization hit. Snape scoffed and drew his lips back in a scowl.

"This fool has a partner?" he asked. "I do not see how a woman could..."

"UNCLE SEVERUS," Kristina jabbed him hard in the ribcage again. "Be nice!"

Snape doubled over, clutching where she jabbed him, "Kristina!" He winced in pain, as his body was still recovering from the pain of his earlier incident.

She glared at him until he relented, "Fine, fine. My sincerest apologies, Mister Dandelion..."

"Ahah, no worries!" Dandelion grinned. "Anyway..." His blue eyes gazed down. "I'd gotten so caught up in this, I'd forgotten my lovely Priscilla was in the hospital. My apologizes." He took off his hat and placed it over his heart as he gave such a deep and respectful bow that those in Japan probably would have been jealous. He returned to a standing position and smiled at Kristina, "I do hope we run into each other again, my fair lady."

"I'm not a lady," Kristina's face turned pink as she crossed her arms and looked to the side.

"Go, Dandelion," Triss sighed.

Dandelion nodded and scampered off to the Novigrad hospital.

"Let us get some food now," Triss looked around until she spotted the Novigrad market. "There. We'll get fish, some veggies, and some bread and take a portal back."

"More portals?" Kristina groaned.

"One more," Triss promised. "I know it bothers you but one more won't kill you. Right?"

Kristina looked to the side and sighed, "Right..."

"Good," Triss smiled. "Let's go!"

She led Snape and Kristina onward to the market to pick up food to fix back at Kaer Morhen.


End file.
